RISLEY, Elijah, a Representative from New York; born in Connecticut on May 7, 1787; completed
preparatory studies; moved to Fredonia, Chautauqua County, N.Y., in 1807; engaged in mercantile
pursuits; sheriff of Chautauqua County 1825-1828; supervisor of town of Pomfret in 1835; engaged
in the culture of garden seeds 1833-1853; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4,
1849-March 3, 1851); was not a candidate for renomination in 1850; major general in the State
militia; died in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, N.Y., January 9, 1870; interment in the East Main
Street Cemetery.